hains point 100

This entry is part of our Women & Bicycles blog series. Women & Bicycles is WABA’s outreach and encouragement initiative to build a stronger women’s bike community and get more women on bikes. These posts certainly aren’t exclusive to women, but they’re produced with and through the Women & Bicycles’ programming and staffing. Click here to learn more and get involved.

The Hains Point 100 is back for 2013! Here are 10 reasons you should ride 100 miles in circles around Hains Point on Dec. 22:

It’s basically a choose-your-own-adventure ride. Start when you want. Ride as long as you want. Pause, snack, sprint, nap, and draft when you want.

The route is riding in circles around Hains Point. It’s impossible to get lost or off-track and it’s unnecessary to have to rely on any kind of electronic device to find your away around.

You’ll ride with the finest of D.C.’s bike advocacy community, including all those people on Twitter you know only by icon, all those people from the forum you know only by signature, and all those people at advocacy meetings you know only by testimony. And you’ll bond over the fact that you’re still in D.C. three days before Christmas, riding your bike in circles in the wind around a peninsula.

This is a locally organized, sustainable, homegrown, organic event, coordinated by one very dedicated supporter of the Women & Bicycles program.

You’ll get bragging rights for riding (or attempting to ride) 100 miles around Hains Point.

Riding 100 miles around Hains Point is a great opportunity to practice your counting. One hundred miles is 33 laps!

Normalize winter riding!

Your donations to the Hains Point 100 will help get more women on bikes. One hundred percent of the ride proceeds will be donated to WABA’s Women & Bicycles program, helping to fund another year of dedicated outreach.

This holiday season, give yourself the gift of an all-age, all-experience level, all-joyful, only slightly delusional century: the Hains Point 100. For more information on the ride, please visit the event website, find it on Facebook, and follow Hains Point 100 on Twitter.

Yesterday’s Hains Point 100 today, organized on the fly by WABA member Megan Jones, was a wonderful way to spend a chilly Sunday before Christmas. Megan, an absolute powerhouse who committed to riding a century around Hains Point to raise money for WABA’s Women & Bikes program, finished around 4:30 p.m. with a total of 102 miles and 32 laps.

Over 50 people kicked off the ride just after 10 a.m., and many more trickled in to check out the information tables and ride in circles for a bit. In total, 100 people rode throughout the day. Long-distance riders paced with casual cyclists, the wind scaled back its intensity, and while the temperature never quite warmed up, riding conditions and attitudes were sunny all around.

The Hains Point 100 raised over $1,500 for Women & Bikes—and plenty of awareness. At the ride’s start, the group appeared to be majority men, an accurate reflection of the gender breakdown of cycling. But plenty of women came out to ride; Outreach Coordinator Nelle Pierson was able to talk extensively to those interested about the program, which will officially launch in March.

Donations and raffle prizes were generously provided by Revolution Cycles, the Bike Lane, Java Shack, BicycleSpace, and Bike Arlington, and ride attendees pitched in plenty of delicious snacks and baked goods. We’d like to thank Megan many times over for her enthusiasm and dedication to WABA and Women & Bikes, as well as those who donated to the Hains Point 100.

Megan talks up Women & Bikes

Couldn’t make it? Read Chasing Mailbox’s writeup of the Hains Point 100 here, and check out somephotos by other participants. Head over to the event’s Facebook page for miscellaneous pictures, memories, and comments (or to share your own!).

If you haven’t yet donated to Women & Bikes, your contribution can still make an incredible difference. Thanks a generous program supporter, donations to the WABA Women & Bikes Program through the end of the year will be matched up to a total of $4,000.If you’re interested in donating, please do so here.

About $550 of the money raised from the Hains Point 100 will be matched by the aforementioned grant. We’ll keep you updated on the progress of donations here, on Facebook, and on Twitter throughout the week. We’d love it if you considered donating before the end of 2012 to help us get more D.C.-area women on bikes.

WABA member Megan Jones will be riding 100 miles around Hains Point to raise money for WABA’s Women & Bicycles program, which will launch next year. Follow the steps to donate to Megan’s ride here, or bring cash on Sunday.

You don’t have to ride to donate, and you don’t have to commit to 100 miles to participate. Do as many laps of Hains Point as you’re comfortable with, move at your own pace, ride with a group, or ride solo—on whatever bike you want (we heard that Capital Bikeshare has even put together a relay team). Don’t hesitate to dress up or decorate your bike!

Do keep in mind that this is a largely unsupported ride, so you may be on your own for repairs, water, and snacks of your preference. Megan is casually crowdsourcing snacks and treats, however, so feel free to bring something to share and treat breaks in your ride like a big, communal picnic.

In-kind donations have been made by Revolution Cycles, Bike Arlington, New Belgium Brewing Company, Sticky Fingers Bakery, and the Java Shack. If you’re interested in contributing something, fill out this form.

A Facebook event with additional information is here, and you can follow the event on Twitter for real(ish)-time updates. RSVP for the ride here.

Gather at the southern end of Hains Point by 9:30 a.m. this Sunday, and be ready to ride at 10 a.m.!